Calamus

קנה Exo 30:23; Son 4:14; Isa 43:24; Jer 6:20; Eze 27:19. An aromatic reed, growing in moist places in Egypt, in Judea near lake Genezareth, and in several parts of Syria. It grows to about two feet in height; bearing from the root a knotted stalk, quite round, containing in its cavity a soft white pith. The whole is of an agreeable aromatic smell; and the plant is said to scent the air with a fragrance even while growing. When cut down, dried, and powdered; it makes an ingredient in the richest perfumes. It was used for this purpose by the Jews.

CALAMUS SCRIPTORIUS, a reed answering the purpose of a pen to write with. The ancients used styles, to write on tablets covered with wax; but reeds, to write on parchment or papyrus. The Psalmist says, “My tongue is the pen of a ready writer,” Psa 45:1. The Hebrew signifies rather a style. The third book of Maccabees states, that the writers employed in making a list of the Jews in Egypt, produced their reeds quite worn out. Baruch wrote his prophecies with ink, Jer 36:4; and, consequently, used reeds; for it does not appear that quills were then used to write with. In 3Jn 1:13, the Apostle says, he did not design to write with pen (reed) and ink. The Arabians, Persians, Turks, Greeks, and Armenians, to this day, write with reeds or rushes.

See CANE.\par

Calamus. See Reed.

(Exo 30:23). An ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Son 4:14; Eze 27:19), an import to Tyre. Aromatic cane: an Indian and Arabian plant. TheAcorus Calamus (Isa 43:24; Jer 6:20), "sweet cane." A scented cane is said to have been found in a valley of Lebanon, reedlike, much jointed, and very fragrant when bruised.

occurs in three passages of the Auth. Vers. for the Hebrews קָנֶה, kanek’ (Sept. κάλαμος, elsewhere “reed”): Exo 30:23, among the ingredients of the holy anointing oil; Son 4:14, in an enumeration of sweet scents; and Eze 27:19, among the articles brought to the markets of Tyre. The term designates the marsh and river reed generally, SEE REED; but in the places just referred to it appears to signify the sweet flag (κάλαμος ἀρωματικός, Dioscor. 1:17), an Oriental plant (calamus odoratus, Plin. 12:12, 48); of which the Linnsean name is Acorus calamus. No doubt the same plant is intended in Isa 43:24;Jer 6:20, where the Auth. Vers. has sweet cane. In the latter text the Hebrews is קָנֶה הִטּוֹב, kaneh’ hat-tob’ (i.e. good cane), and in Exo 30:23, קָנֵה בשֶם, kaneh’ bo’sem (i.e. odoriferous cane). “Ascented cane is said to have been found in a valley of Mount Lebanon (Polyb. 5:46; Strab. 16:4). The plant has a reed-like stem, which is exceedingly fragrant, like the leaves, especially when bruised. It is of a tawny color, much jointed, breaking into splinters, and having the hollow stem filled with pith like a spider’s web” (Kalisch on Exo 30:23.) The calamus of Scripture is probably the reed by that name sometimes found in Europe, but usually in Asia (Thephrast. Plantt. 9:7; Pliny, 12:12), and especially in India and Arablia (Diod. Sic. 2:49; Pliny, 12:48). It grows in moist places in Egypt and Judaea, and in several parts of Syria, bearing from the root a knotted stalk, containing in its cavity a soft white pith. It has an agreeable aromatic smell, and when cut, dried, and powdered, it forms an ingredient in the richest perfumes (Pliny, 15:7; see Celsii Hierob.2:326 sq.). The plant from which the aromaticus” of modern shops is obtained appears to be a different species (Penny Cyclopcedia, s.v. Acorus). SEE CANE.

Calamus, Son 4:14; Eze 27:19, or Sweet Calamus, Exo 30:23, or Sweet Cane, Isa 43:24; Jer 6:20. These are probably names for the same plant. It seems to have been an aromatic reed brought "from a far country." Lemon-grass is "a plant of remarkable fragrance and a native of Central India, where it is used to mix with ointments, on account of the delicacy of its odor." Calamus may have been a species of this.

The word is qaneh, and is often translated ’reed.’ It was one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil. Exo 30:23. It is mentioned among a list of spices and was brought to the market of Tyre. Son 4:14; Eze 27:19. It is the calamus odoratus, a reed growing in India and Arabia, and which is said to have been found in the valley of Lebanon. It has a fragrant smell, and when dried and pounded forms a valuable ingredient for rich perfumes.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Gerson B. Levi

One of the ingredients (Ex. xxx. 23) of the oil made specially for anointing the tabernacle (Ex. xxx. 26), its vessels (ib. 27-29), and the priests (ib. 30). The calamus reed was fragrant, and is therefore mentioned in the long list of spices and fragrant woods in Cant. iv. 14. It was one of the articles in which Tyre traded (Ezek. xxvii. 19). See Reed.

CALAMUS.—See Reed.

(Latin: reed)

1) fistula, or siphon, a pipe or reed used in ancient days for the Communion of the clergy and people, a custom which survived among the Cistercians until the Reformation. Now at solemn papal high Mass, the chalice is brought from the altar to the throne of the pope where he absorbs its contents through a golden pipe.

2) In the Old Testament, a scented reed yielding perfume, used in the composition of spices burned in sacrifices (Isaiah 43; Jeremiah 6), and in the oil of unction (Exodus 30).

kal´a-mus. See REED.

Calamus. A fragrant, reed-like grass growing along streams and river banks ( Son 4:14), also referred to as sweet cane ( Isa 43:24; Jer 6:20). Calamus leaves are fragrant and ginger-flavored when crushed. It is named with other aromatic substances ( Eze 27:19) and as one ingredient for the anointing oil ( Exo 30:23). It is believed to be a plant native to India ( Jer 6:20). Also see Reed Rush.

A sweet-smelling cane plant (Exodus 30:23; Ezekiel 27:19). Calamus refers to either a plant or its aromatic root. It was one of the plants that grew in Solomon's garden (Song of Solomon 4:14).

Two plants have been suggested as the source of biblical calamus:

• the sweet flag (Acorus calamus), and

• the beardgrass (Andropogon aromaticus).

The sweet flag has a strong pleasant smell and grows in Europe and Asia, but it is not found in Israel and the surrounding areas. Beardgrass, which comes from India, releases a strong fragrance when crushed and is thought to be the calamus mentioned in the Bible. Beardgrass produces an oil called ginger-grass oil.

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.